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    Boston dockworkers among thousands on strike nationwide 

    High tariffs, immigration crackdown, funding cuts: BU professor warns of ‘Trump Trifecta’ 

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

    Mass. leaders worried for seniors and kids as Trump agenda bill clears House 

    What Is ‘Big Law?’ 

    Stop Making Cents: US Mint Moves Forward With Plans to Kill the Penny 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

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    The ‘Best and Final’ Job Offer Usually Isn’t Final. How You Can Negotiate 

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    Boston dockworkers among thousands on strike nationwide 

    High tariffs, immigration crackdown, funding cuts: BU professor warns of ‘Trump Trifecta’ 

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

    Mass. leaders worried for seniors and kids as Trump agenda bill clears House 

    What Is ‘Big Law?’ 

    Stop Making Cents: US Mint Moves Forward With Plans to Kill the Penny 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

    The Right Amount of Cards, Cash and ID to Carry in Your Wallet

    The ‘Best and Final’ Job Offer Usually Isn’t Final. How You Can Negotiate 

    From Hollywood to the Hardware Store: The Real-World Impact of a 100% Tariff 

    From Hollywood to the Hardware Store: The Real-World Impact of a 100% Tariff 

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

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    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Tariffs and Their Economic Impact

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

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    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

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    Life After Cookies: Who Uses Google’s Privacy Sandbox? – Garrett Johnson

    Life After Cookies: Who Uses Google’s Privacy Sandbox? – Garrett Johnson

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    Real Estate Ripples from a Landmark Settlement

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

    The Hidden Wisdom of Cultural Pushback

    S1:E1 CVS Paying the “Pink Tax” on Certain Products and the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle Industry

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    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Madeleine Dean demand food and beverage CEOs put a stop to ‘shrinkflation’ 

    Mass. leaders worried for seniors and kids as Trump agenda bill clears House 

    What Is ‘Big Law?’ 

    Stop Making Cents: US Mint Moves Forward With Plans to Kill the Penny 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How to Attract (and Keep!) the Best Gen Z Employees 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

    Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse? 

    The Right Amount of Cards, Cash and ID to Carry in Your Wallet

    The ‘Best and Final’ Job Offer Usually Isn’t Final. How You Can Negotiate 

    Bank Failures Show Us What Not to Do with Our Own Finances

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    79,000 lost jobs. $13 billion in GDP gone. Study tallies potential hit to Mass. from Trump’s ‘economic attack.’

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    Leading Global Teams Effectively 

    How Retailers Can Capitalize on the “Refund Effect”

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    Transforming Products into Platforms: Unearthing New Avenues for Business Innovation

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Home Publications Harvard Business Review

To Encourage Patients to Fill Prescriptions, Fix Copays

Tal GrossbyTal Gross
October 25, 2022
in Harvard Business Review, Health, Biopharma, & Health-Tech, Publications
22
0
To Encourage Patients to Fill Prescriptions, Fix Copays

capsules up ticket dollar, concept of health copay

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

October 14, 2022

Harvard Business Review recently published an article by Tal Gross, Associate Professor, discussing ways insurers can benefit from copayments and reduce their downside.

Copayments cause many elderly Americans to hold off on filling prescriptions until receiving their Social Security checks. A copay as little as five dollars can cause beneficiaries a delay in acquiring important drugs thus delaying care. On the other hand, copayments are an important tool in preventing waste. They nudge customers to use health care carefully and aid in setting drug prices.

Patients won’t have to postpone taking medication that could save their lives.

Tal Gross
Associate Professor, Markets, Public Policy, & Law

The challenge insurers face is ensuring the benefits copayments provide while minimizing their costs in terms of discouraging timely prescription fills. Gross recommends a few steps that retain the benefits of copayments: make some prescriptions free and identifying then helping patients most likely to delay refilling prescriptions. He states, “taking these relatively simple steps can benefit everyone. Patients won’t have to postpone taking medication that could save their lives. Insurers can do their part to help right inequities in health care. And the taxpaying public doesn’t have to foot the much-bigger bills that eventually come due when needed health care is delayed.”

Read the Full Article
Tags: CopaysDrug PricingHBRTal Gross
Tal Gross

Tal Gross

Tal Gross is an associate professor in the Department of Markets, Public Policy & Law at Boston University. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research focuses on health insurance and household finance. He received his bachelor’s degree from The University of Chicago and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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